Author
Topic: Road to Improvement (Read 2179 times)

Made some big strides this year and as the season wraps up I'm feeling pretty good about the improvements I've made this year. Finished at my lowest 9 hole league HC ever and actually finished within a few tenths of it in the Thursday league I sub in 15 or so times a season. Which makes me happy about the consistency across 2 separate leagues on different nights with different playing partners and conditions.

Part of it is having some one-off type equipment that is set up perfect for me and my swing type based on what I've learned from years of ho'ing and testing. Manages my misses really well and I seem to just hit the ball better overall with fewer misses. Going back to steel in the irons and wedges has helped a ton too. Way more birdie opportunities and fewer scrambles for par.

The other thing is that I really started playing smarter. Don't care what iron the other guy is hitting into a Par 3 green into a stiff breeze, I quietly take 2 extra and cut a half swing laser through the wind. Just being super honest about how far I actually hit each club, knowing which holes play longer and shorter, thinking more about where to put a drive versus just trying to hit the fairway have all helped.

And one HUGE thing. Not going out and beating balls until I was exhausted and pissed off. I get a small bucket, warm up for a few shots each with wedges, 7i, and driver, and "play the course" on the range, in my mind. That works out to around 30 full swings with some space between them and a full pre shot routine. I've then spent the extra time practicing my short game more.

good points, M !How do you effectively practice putting ?I mostly play on weekends and at different courses with different green varieties, slope, grass, speed, and so on. So it is quite a challenge to score well on the putting side

Lessons have helped me. My whole game is better than it's ever been. Have had a lowish handicap this year (lowest was mid 7, high 9. but that's still a point higher than my all time low, however, I know my game is better now because I'm playing better in events and money matches than I do in casual rounds and that's never been the case before. Won the 2nd flight gross and net in the club championship and never finished higher than middle of the pack in the 3rd flight before. Also had strong performances in the Matchplay and a 3rd in the flag tournament. Short game is the answer for me still and I was worried going back to traditional putting which occupied most of my early season practice. I do a few different drills drills when I have time (e.g. Make 20 straight 6 foot straight putts in a row) but mostly just mess around trying to execute different shots. I live on a golf course so get a lot of "small scale practice" in...e.g. I'll hit 6-10 shots when I take the dog out for his run/walk or putt for 15 mins while my kid is at soccer practice...

Below is what I've been working on:

Putting: 1 head down listen for it to drop2 controlling distance with the length of my takeaway

Chipping:only practicing keeping head down and feeling the distance...happy with this part of my game

Full swing:1 Focusing on more rotation and not swaying off the ball2 closed to the target more on setup3 tempo and balance

I'm back to lessons. We got a new teaching pro that has helped a lot of guys. I'm through the significant events so I started going a month ago. Just had 4th lesson. Have never been more optimistic about my game.

He teaches the modern golf swing. The 9 positions, turn the left shoulder down, cover with the right shoulder. Pretty big departure for me as I've been down a more classical path e.g. Shawn Clements. I did a lot of mirror work the first couple weeks, have finally gotten rid of the slide, hitting it a club farther.

Funny thing is I can bring it to the course. Low net in the men's game last Saturday with a 79...hcap is going down. Still some inconsistency and some awkwardness but my gosh, watching my swing on video it looks so much better.

I think finding a good teacher is the key, this guy explains things in ways that make sense to me.

The more I play the more I realize how unimportant gear is in relation to playing well. I don't disagree that quality gear that fits your swing, playing style and tastes won't improve your performance but it's really the smallest comtributor to overall performance...miles behind technique and feel. Right behind technique and feel is mental game (e.g. Staying present focused, planning smart and maintaining a consistent, target focused routine...I also include managing nerves as part of the mental game). The next highest contributor to overall performance in my opinion is fitness/flexibility/strength. After that...immeasurably far behind the top 2 and ignificantly behind the fitness category is gear....

Gear seems to help more with my mental game than anything else...I have more enthusiasm, more confidence, play and practice more when I have cool gear that I love but the difference between high end, perfectly fit gear and a bag of average or even crappy gear is maybe 2 strokes...tops...the difference between a $5k set and a $1k set? Maybe...MAYBE a stroke...

The more I play the more I realize how unimportant gear is in relation to playing well. I don't disagree that quality gear that fits your swing, playing style and tastes won't improve your performance but it's really the smallest comtributor to overall performance...miles behind technique and feel. Right behind technique and feel is mental game (e.g. Staying present focused, planning smart and maintaining a consistent, target focused routine...I also include managing nerves as part of the mental game). The next highest contributor to overall performance in my opinion is fitness/flexibility/strength. After that...immeasurably far behind the top 2 and ignificantly behind the fitness category is gear....

Gear seems to help more with my mental game than anything else...I have more enthusiasm, more confidence, play and practice more when I have cool gear that I love but the difference between high end, perfectly fit gear and a bag of average or even crappy gear is maybe 2 strokes...tops...the difference between a $5k set and a $1k set? Maybe...MAYBE a stroke...

Or 4k

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